Protection
by fandomsaremydrug
Summary: Five years after they fled Townsville, the Ruffs are back. Immediately after their return, they encounter a mysterious and powerful stranger. The stranger brings them to the Puffs, where an unlikely alliance forms. The Ruffs also find themselves under the protection of Bubbles Utonium. Everything has changed in these five years, and the Ruffs are in for more than they expected.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I really shouldn't be posting a new story since I still haven't updated some of my other stories, but I just really liked this one and felt the need to post it. It's pretty short and kind of slow, so bear with me. Enjoy!

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"You'll never catch me alive, coppers!" the blonde boy laughed crazily as he and his two brothers flew in the air, sacks of money and jewels in their hands. He shouted it out with a childish manner, acting as if he was five and not seventeen.

The black haired boy beside him narrowed his green eyes, clearly agitated. "Boomer, I swear to fucking god. If you say that one more time I will-"

"Butch, calm down." The redheaded leader said evenly. "He's just having a little fun. First day back in Townsville so let's go crazy."

Butch raised his brow at his brother. "Brick, you can't honestly-"

Brick sent him a look and Butch sighed as Boomer smirked victoriously, his blue eyes shining with excitement. They flew in the air at a breakneck speed, and finally landed on a roof overlooking the city.

"Woo hoo!" Boomer whooped and the redhead chuckled.

"Woo hoo." Butch repeated in a dull voice, but he was still slightly amused.

"That's the spirit, Butch." Boomer laughed.

"The city hasn't changed at all." The blonde said after a few moments of looking over the beautiful city.

"That's where you're wrong, Boomer old buddy." Brick said. "It may look the same, but a lot can happen in five years. For all we know, Ace and his crew could've taken over the city."

Butch remembered his old green-skinned friend and snickered. "Doubt it."

"Why not we go find everyone?" Boomer suggested. "We could all catch up, destroy the Powerpuff Girls..."

Brick laughed. "Sounds like a plan." He paused. "But first we need a place to crash and store the loot. We can't carry these things around town. It'd be too suspicious to have giant brown and white sacks of cash and jewels on us."

Butch almost laughed at the thought. The three of them, with their ratty, torn clothes and downtown accents, carrying around these bags that were three times heavier than their own weight. These bags full of expensive jewels and hundreds of Benjamin Franklins.

Even if they were planning to lay low for the rest of the night, they were criminals, so they couldn't exactly walk into a hotel carrying enormous bags of money. It was also their first night in town, and they didn't exactly have any plans of where to go besides some sort of abandoned building or cheap motel.

"Where do you suppose we put it all, Brick?" Boomer asked.

Brick's red eyes looked all over the city with a strong gaze.

"Why not over there?" Butch pointed to a small, old building near the port.

"Looks good." Boomer said. "We can set up over there for a few days before we find a real place to crash."

"All right then." Brick nodded, and with that, they flew towards the building, crashing recklessly into the ceiling and landing on the top floor.

"What the…" Brick gaped when they saw it. The building wasn't deserted like they thought it would be. There were computers and desks everywhere, with official-looking documents everywhere.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Boomer said slowly.

"What are you doing here?" a voice growled behind them.

They turned to see a guy around twenty standing there, looking professional, enraged and evil all at the same time. He had messy, yet perfect dark brown hair, alluring blue eyes, and a muscular built. He looked perfectly normal, but something about him just screamed suspicious.

"Who the fuck are you?" Butch growled, getting into a fighting position.

"I don't have to answer to you. This is my territory. How dare you come barging in here, crashing through my ceiling, and think you have the right to ask me questions with that tone." the guy didn't raise his voice but kept a hard glare at them which made them all fidget a bit.

"We're the Rowdyruff Boys." Boomer blurted out, and the guy straightened up.

He raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"You mean the legendary Rowdyruff Boys?" He said 'legendary' in an amused fashion, getting on the boys' nerves.

"Yeah, that's right." Brick glared.

"You don't seem like much of a challenge…" The guy sighed in a bored manner and Butch growled.

"Oh yeah?"

With that, Butch lunged towards him and threw a few punches that were easily blocked.

The guy twisted Butch's wrist and arms, breaking them as Butch screamed with pain. The guy then flipped Butch onto the ground easily as if he were nothing but a feather. His movements were graceful and swift, yet so powerful and unbelievable.

"How-?" Boomer started, but was cut off when the guy went for Boomer, knocking him to the ground and beating Boomer senseless, leaving him bleeding very badly.

Brick was too shocked to do anything, frozen in place.

The guy turned towards Brick and smiled menacingly. Grabbing Brick by the throat, the man punched him repeatedly before slamming Brick into the floor.

Before he could do anything else, Butch got up and slammed the man on the table, smashing the computers and cabinets to pieces. Brick snapped out of it and joined his brother in cornering the guy.

The man got up easily, brushing the dust off his shoulders before sending an energy blast to the two boys and sending skilled hits to the head.

And just like that, all three of the Ruffs were beaten and unconscious.

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**A/N:** What do you think? I don't think this is my best chapter, but future chapters will be sure to have my 100% effort. Not a lot happened, but some pretty big things happened. The boys are back, causing trouble, but it seems like there's a new villain (?) in town. The girls will be introduced next, but just be aware that most of the story will be the Ruffs' point of view. Anyways, thanks for reading and follow, favorite, and review! I'd really like to hear some of your thoughts! Stay tuned...


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Hey sorry I've been slow with this story, I've been really busy with school, writing, etc. I was planning to update on Tuesday because of my one year anniversary of being on this site, but a certain research paper prevented me from doing so. Anyways, here is chapter two!

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-Butch-

"_What are we gonna do about him?"_ I heard a voice scowl.

"_What about them? How are we going to deal with them?"_ A different voice asked, sounding concerned.

"_We'll have to come up with a plan later._" a third voice sighed.

The three voices were all familiar and I could tell they were girls.

My head spun and I felt sore all over.

I felt a stinging sensation on my shoulder and I opened my eyes and pulled my shoulder away.

"He's awake." the second voice gasped and I looked to see a beautiful blonde girl with wide blue eyes. She had a few scratches and bruises on herself, but she still looked flawless. She held a first aid kit in her hand and I realized that she was taking care of my wounds.

"Huh?" I mumbled, still a bit disoriented. I looked around, finding myself in a bed in a fairly large room with dark red painted walls and dark wood furniture.

"Finally." The first voice muttered, and I turned to see a black haired girl glaring at me with bright green eyes. She looked worse than the first girl and had a scowl on her face.

"Calm down and give him some time to get his head right." The third voice said in an even voice, and I turned to see a redheaded girl with pink eyes. Pink.

Then it all clicked.

I was in a room with the Powerpuff Girls. And Bubbles was tending to my wounds. What the actual-

"I'm guessing you've figured it out." Blossom said, looking at me.

I simply stared at her.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Where am I? Where are my brothers? What the hell is going on?" I snapped, and I tried to sit up, but I ended up feeling even more pain.

"Careful." Bubbles said. "You're still really roughed up."

"Yeah you got your ass kicked." Buttercup smirked.

I scowled and managed to sit up.

"Answer my questions." I snapped again.

"You're in my apartment." Bubbles said.

I raised my eyebrows. We were only seventeen… why would she be moving out so fast? And why would they bring me here, of all places?

Blossom and Buttercup shot Bubbles a look, and they all had a silent argument before I cleared my throat, interrupting them.

"Your brothers are here." Buttercup pointed to two other beds next to my own. Sure enough, my two brothers were unconscious on a couch and another bed, and they were sporting their own bruises and injuries.

"They should be waking up soon." Blossom said, watching them intently. "And when everyone's up and recovered, we have to talk to you."

"But you didn't answer my question." I twitched, trying again. "What's going on?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Bubbles said, applying disinfectant on some of my wounds. "Now shut up and wait."

"Looks like Boomer's up." Buttercup noted, and we looked to see my blonde brother stirring in the bed next to mine. His blue eyes sprang open and he quickly looked around, ready to fight.

"Hey…" he said slowly. "What…?"

He sat up and winced, looking around. "What the fuck?"

"Calm your shit." Buttercup told him and I glared.

"Don't talk to him like that."

"Don't tell me what to do." Buttercup spat.

"Shut up!" Bubbles snapped. "Boomer, just relax. Ok?" She looked at Boomer, her eyes changing oddly. Boomer's eyes changed too and he nodded as if he were in a trance.

Bubbles sighed and smiled softly.

"Ok, now we just gotta wait for-" Blossom started, but was interrupted by a groan from the couch.

"What…" Brick looked around and reacted in a similar fashion. "What the-"

"You got your butts kicked. We saved your asses. You're here. We're helping you. Now we need you to shut up and tell us everything." Buttercup said bluntly.

"Well then." Brick huffed.

"Why would we tell you anything?" I scoffed.

"Because you owe us, in a way." Bubbles said, purposely applying an extra amount of disinfectant to make it sting even more. I groaned in pain and shot her a glare.

"I guess that's fair." Brick scowled.

Blossom smirked victoriously, as did Buttercup and Bubbles.

"Excellent." Blossom said. "You can start with telling us why you're back in town."

"We decided that we were out of town long enough, so we should just head back." Brick shrugged.

"What were you doing before you encountered him?" Blossom asked.

"Him?" Boomer asked.

"The ice cream man." Buttercup scoffed. "Who else do you think? The guy that jumped you and brought you to us."

"Oh." Boomer mumbled, embarrassed.

"Answer the question." Blossom said, ignoring the two.

"We… uh we were robbing some stores." Brick said.

"Hey, speaking of, where is all of it?" Boomer asked and the girls scowled.

"You let him take it?" Blossom's eyes were wide.

"Are you fucking serious?" Buttercup shouted, glaring at the three of us.

"How much did you steal?" Blossom asked.

"Uh two million dollars." Brick said.

The three girls groaned again.

"And eight hundred thousand dollars worth of jewels." Brick added.

"Well that's fucking great!" Buttercup said sarcastically. "Way to let the bad guy get three million dollars!"

"It's not our fault!" I glared.

"Yeah, you _really_ tried to stop him." She rolled her eyes.

"He caught us off guard!" Brick said. "And we haven't been in an equally matched fight in five years!"

"You've gotten soft." Buttercup snickered.

"Well we're not the only ones who got beat up, bitch!" I growled, pointing at her. Her eye was swollen, bruises covering her her shoulders and her clothes fairly tattered.

Buttercup was about to rage when Bubbles interrupted.

"Now he has the money." She looked at Blossom like a lost child, unsure of what to do or say.

"He who?" Boomer asked. I sighed at my brother's idiocy.

"I know that!" Blossom scowled, ignoring Boomer.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Buttercup looked at Blossom.

Blossom kept her gaze on Brick. "What happened afterwards? Everything that you remember. Everything."

"Well uh we went to this building, and there were a bunch of papers and computers and filing cabinets and it looked pretty high end. We were really confused and we were about to check it all out but then the guy came in and started beating the crap out of us."

"And then…?" Bubbles asked.

"That's it, really. After that, it was all black until I woke up here." Brick shook his head. "Sorry."

"That doesn't make any sense." Bubbles stopped treating my wounds and sat down at the edge of the bed right behind me.

"What do you mean? It makes perfect sense." Boomer said.

Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup shared a look. And I didn't like it.

"What about the building?" Buttercup asked.

Blossom widened her eyes and looked at Brick urgently.

"Tell me everything about this building."

"Well, uh, it's by the port. It's pretty old and it looks abandoned. You know… yeah. Uh it's pretty big."

"There are a lot of buildings exactly like it." Bubbles rolled her eyes as she crossed her legs.

"Take us exactly where you found the building." Blossom told us.

"Why?" Brick scoffed.

"Because," Bubbles snapped. "We need to get this guy. It's a matter of life and death."

"And we care because…?"

"Last time you were here was what, four, five years ago? If I remember correctly, which I do, you were told that if you committed one more crime within city, you'd have to spend a _very_ long time in jail far, far away from here." Bubbles looked at him, daring him to tell her that she was wrong.

Brick narrowed his eyes into a hard glare but didn't say anything.

"And I'm pretty sure we're at an advantage at the moment, so it would be a piece of cake to just turn you in and hand you over to the cops on your first day back in town. Of course, that wouldn't happen if you agree to our terms… but… since you don't care and don't want to help…"

"All right!" Brick raised his voice, interrupting her. "We'll help you."

"Swear?" Bubbles asked.

"I swear that we will help you." Brick said reluctantly.

A devilish smile appeared on Bubbles lips, and she didn't look anything like the innocent and pure little girl she was last time I saw her.

"Let's get going."

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**A/N: **There it is! Don't forget to review, favorite, and follow :)


	3. Chapter 3

Not long afterwards, my brothers and I were hanging onto the Puffs as we flew towards the Port to find the building. The man had used Antidote X on us, so we couldn't fly or fight. It sucked, in simple terms. The sky was a dark blue and I questioned how long we were out cold.

The ride was quick, and soon we were floating over the buildings by the port.

"Which one?" Blossom asked. She looked down to Brick, who was hanging onto her hand.

"That one." Brick said, pointing to the building.

"Are you sure?" Bubbles asked.

"Yep, that's it." I confirmed for the girl Boomer was holding onto. Bubbles nodded at me and then to her sisters.

"Well, let's go." Buttercup said, and they flew towards the roof. They stared at the hole in the middle of the roof when we landed.

"What do we do about them?" Bubbles asked, referring to my brothers and I.

"We'll leave them here. Their powers shouldn't come back for a few more hours and if they tried to escape and jump off the roof, they'd die." Blossom said.

"Splat!" Buttercup cackled and Boomer paled.

"Shut up Buttercup." Blossom rolled her eyes.

"Let's just go." Bubbles said.

They turned towards the hole and jumped through.

I looked at my brothers. Boomer shrugged and Brick sighed.

"We should just-" Brick started, but was cut off by a loud crash from the floor below us.

"What the-" I started, but I was interrupted by a shout.

"Should we see what's going on?" Boomer asked.

"Fine." Brick sighed.

"How are we going to get down there?" I asked.

"There's a staircase right there. They didn't even notice it." Boomer pointed to a door in the corner and Brick rolled his eyes.

We ran towards the door which revealed a set of stairs, and ran down them to the top floor. Boomer opened the door and I widened my eyes.

The room was cleared of all furniture and everything else I remembered being there. The computers were gone, with filing cabinets and desks gone as well. Not only that, but Blossom and Buttercup were lying on the floor, bleeding and bruised. Bubbles was fighting the guy from before and I took a deep breath at the sight of him. My pride hurt, as egotistical as that sounded, but it was true.

Nobody had ever taken me or my brothers down. Especially not that quickly.

Bubbles was pretty scratched up, but it was nothing compared to her sisters. She was handling herself pretty damn well, if you ask me. She was doing better than I did which damaged whatever that was left of my pride.

They didn't seem to notice us as they continued to fight hand to hand.

Suddenly he punched her in the face and spun her around, twisting her arms behind her back in a painful way and pushing her against the wall.

Her head hit the hard wall and she groaned in pain.

"Save the groaning for later, babe." he said lowly, his head getting closer to her.

Bubbles' eyes darkened dangerously and she elbowed him in the gut, pushing him off of her. Before he could react, she blasted him with an energy orb and he went flying towards the other wall. "Don't call me that." She snapped.

Bubbles sent several other blasts to him, forcing him to stay on the ground.

Her eyes glowed a strange, unidentifiable color, and I stared. What the hell was going on?

Bubbles stopped for a few moments, catching her breath.

"Stupid energy blasts." She huffed.

"Still trying to figure out the ropes?" The guy chuckled, getting up.

He was hit with another energy blast, but it didn't come from Bubbles. I looked and saw Buttercup and Blossom glowering. Boomer and Brick were glaring at the guy. We surrounded him. There was no way out.

"Give up, you're surrounded." Brick barked.

The guy smirked and looked at the three of us as he backed away towards the wall.

"Teaming up with the counterparts, eh girls?" the guy looked amused, and I didn't like it. He took a step towards me and Bubbles immediately moved closer to me. She wasn't directly next to me, but instead of several feet in between us, it was merely a few feet.

The guy raised his head and his face was blank. He looked conflicted and he looked at the girls.

"I see… Hm, well it would be a shame... if something were to happen to them."

"You wouldn't." Bubbles said, her face showing a mix of confusion and surprise.

"They're not even your priority. They don't have anything to do with this." Blossom looked at him strangely. "They're useless to you. Why would you drag them into this?"

"That, Blossom, is where you're wrong." He gave her a scheming smirk and winked at Bubbles. "See you girls around."

He stepped away and jumped backwards into the window, hurdling into the glass and falling towards the pavement.

Bubbles immediately lunged towards the window, but Buttercup beat her to it and stopped her. Bubbles was trembling and shaking violently

"Don't." Buttercup said, and Bubbles scowled. "You don't wanna… y'know."

Bubbles gulped and nodded, slowly stopping the shaking.

"All right." Bubbles said, her voice shaky. "What do we do now?"

"We can't do anything before you calm down." Blossom said.

"I'm trying!" Bubbles snapped, but she still shook uncontrollably, and her voice was trembling.

"Is she… are you ok?" I asked, slowly approaching her.

She whipped around to face me, staring at me for a moment.

"I-I…" Bubbles took breaths and slowly stopped shaking as much."I'm fine, ok? I just… that bastard gets on my nerves." She smiled crookedly as we laughed.

She smiled at me and her shaking stopped.

"It's getting late." Blossom said, and I looked out the window to realize that the sky was darker blue than before.

"But it's Friday night." Buttercup whined and Blossom sighed.

"We have to get some food before going home and figuring… _this_," she waved her hands around. "Out."

"Good I'm starving." Boomer said.

"You're buying us food, right?" Brick asked. "By the looks of things, seems like we're going to be… allies. Might as well get us some food."

The girls looked at each other and Blossom nodded. "We need to… discuss things."

"Discuss what?" Boomer asked.

"Everything." Bubbles said.

"Let's go."

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**A/N**: There you go! I really wanna move the story along and get to the good stuff (the fluff and the ships) so I'm trying to update more often. I hope you enjoyed and if you did, don't forget to review/follow/favorite and send me some feedback. Even if you didn't like it, feedback is always appreciated. Thanks guys!


	4. Chapter 4

We found ourselves in the back of a busy Chinese Restaurant in the shadows. There seemed to be an unspoken understanding of our alliance. There was some sense of trust and understanding which was the biggest plot twist next to the sinking of the Titanic.

It was surreal. The six of us were sitting at a table in a crowded restaurant, sitting civilly and eating dinner not trying to destroy each other. Heroes and villains sitting together, acting as if we weren't created to destroy each other…

Nobody in the restaurant recognized us nor paid attention to us. I kept a steady eye on the crowd of people, feeling fidgety and not right at all.

"Ok, so can we please talk about that psycho?" Boomer said as the six of us sat in an awkward silence.

"All right." Blossom nodded.

Brick reached for an egg roll. "Can _you_ tell us about him first? You've already interrogated us, so now it's our turn."

"I suppose that's fair." Blossom nodded again.

"That's because it is." Brick mumbled.

"What do you want to know?" Blossom asked, ignoring Brick.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"That was Brent." Buttercup said.

"His name is Brent?" Boomer raised his eyebrow.

"His full name is Luke Brent." Bubbles said, head down as she stabbed at a chicken wing. "But everyone calls him Brent."

I looked at her. She was silent ever since the fight with Brent, and I couldn't shake the feeling that something was up with her.

"How is he so strong? How was he able to beat us? How did he survive that fall from the building?" Boomer questioned.

"How did he beat _us_?" I asked, scowling.

"Well…" Blossom took a deep breath. "He's… not human. Not exactly. He's like us, but different. Instead of our regular Chemical X, he has ECX, which is basically Enhanced Chemical X. It's more powerful than regular Chemical X, and that's why he's stronger than us."

"What's his problem? He seems like he hates you guys. And us, even." Brick questioned.

"He wasn't always super powered. When he became super powered, he went a bit… insane. And he wants to take over the world and all that stuff, and since we're the Powerpuff Girls, we're the only thing standing in his way to world domination, so he tries to stop us. He hates you for no reason at all."

"Actually," Bubbles said, glaring at her plate. "I don't think he even hates you guys. He just _wants_ something from you."

"What makes you say that?" Brick raised a brow.

"Well," Bubbles looked up and her expression changed into a more thoughtful one. "I know Brent, well _knew_ him, and he doesn't develop hatred for anyone unless they mess with him. He doesn't waste his time on things that he doesn't need or care about, and only uses his time on things that will benefit him in some way. No offense, guys, but I don't see anything he'd want with you. He might want you as allies, but if he wanted you as allies, he wouldn't have attacked you."

Her words sunk in and Blossom looked at her sisters.

"What could he possibly want from us?" Boomer asked.

"Who knows…" Blossom said. "We've been trying to get into his mind for months. In other words-"

"You've been trying to beat him." Brick said.

"Well, duh." Buttercup rolled her eyes. "Let's cut to the chase here. Both of you," she looked at the two redheaded leaders. "Have been stalling. But I'm tired of hearing you recite stupid, _obvious_ facts. We need to speed it up."

Blossom and Brick were about to speak up when Bubbles nodded.

"Every minute we waste trying to beat around the bush, he's getting better. He's getting stronger and he's moving his plan right along. We need to do something or else before you know it, we're all enslaved servants to the spawn of Satan himself."

Brick and Blossom stared at each other, as if having some sort of stare off.

"Fine." Blossom pursed her lips. "We're offering you a deal."

My eyebrows furrowed and I knew this had gotten on a new level of serious. We had to be careful. I made eye contact with Brick and he nodded.

"The three of you team up with us to help take Brent down. Whatever it takes to bring him down and save the city from him. We all stick together until he's taken down. If you accept and completely carry out this deal, we'll clear your names of all criminal charges."

In that moment, time slowed down as my brothers and I froze, caught off guard by this preposition. Hell froze over. Twice.

Pigs flew.

Boomer got a PhD.

The impossible became possible.

The Powerpuff Girls were going to team up with their sworn enemies, and get them cleared of _everything_. All offenses, charges, and crimes the Rowdyruff Boys have ever committed. Well, the ones they found out about, anyway.

They were going to do the impossible for their sworn enemies.

"You're… serious?" Brick asked, shocked and suspicious.

They all nodded, and even Buttercup held back a sarcastic comment.

"Wait." Boomer said suddenly, snapping us all out of the intense meeting. "You're not telling us something."

The girls each reacted differently. Bubbles paled, Buttercup tensed and Blossom pursed her lips.

Boomer was right.

"We're not agreeing to anything until you tell us everything." Brick growled.

"All right!" Blossom sighed. "We need test subjects."

"Test subjects?" Brick gaped. "No fucking way."

"Wait-" Blossom started, but was interrupted.

"We're not going to be your little guinea pigs." I objected.

"Let me explain, just-"

"No tests." Brick got up, hand balled in a fist and glowing red, ready to fight.

"Let her explain!" Bubbles snapped, her eyes changing the same way they did earlier with Boomer. Brick's eyes changed and he sat down slowly, fist uncurling and the glow fading.

"We know why he needs you." Blossom admitted, shutting her eyes. "He needs to find our weaknesses through you. The three of you have similar if not the same compositions as us, and he needs to find a way to get rid of us without using Antidote X. If he has you, he will do whatever it takes to find a way to rid us of our Chemical X."

"Think of it as… protection." Bubbles added. "We're not going to put you three in danger. He will. He already has."

"But wait, why didn't he take us immediately after he beat us?" Brick asked.

"I have no clue. I don't have the mind of a maniac." Bubbles shrugged.

Brick looked at Boomer, since Boomer was good with recognizing when someone was lying or hiding something, but Boomer nodded.

Brick looked at me for my response and I simply tilted my head up in a yes and he turned back towards the girls.

"You have a deal." Brick nodded, and he held his hand outwards and the two leaders shook hands.

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**A/N: **Hey guys, sorry I've been neglecting this story a little bit, I just got caught up with personal stuff and my other stories so yeah. Here's an update and I hope you liked it. There are a lot of weird things such as how Bubbles is a little OOC, but just keep reading it'll be explained very soon. I'm planning a double update, so this is your lucky Friday/Saturday/whatever day it is where you are right now! Anyways, review, follow, favorite! Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Hi guys! I promised a double update and I swear I thought that I had it uploaded but apparently it didn't upload! I'm so extremely sorry I don't know what happened. I was planning an update today but I saw that Chapter 5 didn't upload! So I guess that double upload is happening tonight! Sorry for the inconvenience. This chapter is extremely short because it was supposed to be part of the double update so it wasn't meant to be very long. Anyways, please don't kill me and here it is...

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As soon as we started the fly to the suburbs, where the girls lived, I felt my powers starting to return to me. By the time we reached the doorstep of the clean white house, I was able to gradually float down before Buttercup dropped me while I was still a good distance from the ground.

"Finally." I muttered, glad to have regained my powers.

Brick flew up in the air for a few moments, a small smirk on his face.

Boomer used his heat vision on a patch of grass, grinning widely as the grass was burnt immediately.

"Don't get too crazy." Blossom warned, pulling out keys and entering it into the door.

"Why did you bring us here?" Brick asked as we were brought inside.

"The Professor isn't home, but just don't make a mess." Blossom said as Boomer collapsed into a sleek white chair and began to prop his feet on the glass table.

"Boomer." Buttercup snapped. Boomer laughed nervously and took them off.

"Sorry."

"Anyways," Blossom started. "We need to set up some guidelines and discuss a plan."

"Agreed." Brick nodded. "We need to take care of how things are going to work because I can't just have my team start fighting criminals all of a sudden. We're not shifting over, we just need a clean slate."

"That you're just going to ruin later on." Buttercup rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Fighting monsters isn't your job. You won't be fighting anything."

"Wait I'm confused." Boomer shook his head.

"When are you _not_ confused?" Buttercup smirked.

"Hey!" Boomer frowned. "I just thought we were going to help you take him down. How can we take him down without fighting him?"

"We were never going to make you fight this battle. I told you already. We need test subjects. We need a source of research, a bluff, new recruits. We need to use you as leverage and to find some way to strengthen our powers against him. As well as find ways to defend ourselves from some of his powers."

"How can you test us if you don't have any of this Enhanced Chemical X? Wouldn't we need to see if it works?"

Buttercup and Bubbles shared a look, Bubbles licking her lips while Blossom simply pursed her lip glossed lips.

"We have our ways."

Brick clenched his fist and Boomer eyed Blossom suspiciously.

My attention was drawn to a different Puff.

"What the hell does that mean?" Brick snapped.

"How are we supposed to be allies if you can't trust us?"

"It means that we have our resources." Blossom said stubbornly.

"This alliance doesn't make us all buddy-buddy, all right?" Buttercup scowled

"We can't just get into this whole deal if we don't know what the hell is going on!"

Words and threats were lost in the heavy, angry atmosphere and I remained to the side, studying the girl leaning against the unlit fireplace.

She was quiet, her eyes darting between each one arguing, and somehow her eyes found me, and she looked back at the four Ruffs and Puffs who were close to ripping each others throats out.

"Guys!" She called out, her voice slicing theirs and silencing them all. "I'm it."

"What?" I unconsciously thought aloud.

She glanced at me then to my brothers. "I'm the Enhanced Chemical X source."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Hey guys! Here's the double update I promised. It's kind of short and I'm sorry, but I wasn't sure how to write this particular chapter out, so I wasn't really able to write too much without it sounding too weird and incoherent. By the way, it's April 30th, so Happy 10 Year Anniversary to one of my favorite movies, Mean Girls! Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

Hours seemed to pass as my brothers and I processed this. It made sense.

She fought him better than any of us. She lasted longer. She was acting weird… her shaking, her eyes, how she was able to convince Brick and Boomer to calm down and shut up without batting an eye or raising her voice.

"What?" Brick managed to asked, his eyes wide and intrigued. "_You're _the source? How?"

Bubbles licked her lips. "Well I'm not the _exact_ source but somehow my DNA and chemical composition reacts well with certain drug and enhancers. The enhancers usually don't effect Chemical X, but it did with my DNA."

"So you're telling me by getting high you managed to create a new chemical?" Brick furrowed his brows.

"No you idiot!" Buttercup snapped. "The Professor was testing out how drugs would effect us like steroids or pot and he tested it on Blossom's DNA sample. There was nothing. He tried my sample, there was nothing. But on Bubbles' sample, there was some crazy shit going on and he tested different things out and he managed to create the ECX."

I looked at Bubbles, my suspicions finally confirmed. But more questions seemed to form as I tried to figure her out. I read people like books, but she wasn't too easy to read. She was more than the little blonde girl who enjoyed skipping around and tended to giggle and smile all the time. She wasn't the innocent girl clouded by naivety.

Bubbles had hardened and grown, her blue eyes darker and her body movements tenser and hesitant. Her voice still sounded silky but with a certain edge and command that showed she wasn't shitting around.

Blossom looked at Bubbles, a wide eyed look still on her face as her two sisters revealed everything.

Bubbles caught her stare and glared. "They're right. How are we supposed to work together if they don't even know all of what they're getting into? No matter how much we don't want to, we have to trust them. You know it."

Blossom sighed, defeated and she nodded.

"Wait," I found myself saying. "If you're the source but you haven't tried any of those drugs, then why do you seem like you have some kind of ECX?"

Bubbles stiffened and looked away, a bitter look in her eyes.

"I do have ECX in me." Her voice was quiet but just as intense as the look in her eyes.

That was all she said, and I knew that was her way of shutting the subject down. Blossom cleared her throat and all attention was on the pink eyed girl.

I watched Bubbles from the corner of my eye, noticing her stealing glances my way, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Now that we've established that Bubbles is the main source of the Enhanced Chemical X and that she indeed has been infused with it, we can move forward. I guess now…" She sighed. "We have to be able to trust each other. We have to make sure everyone is on the same page."

"Let's make this clear." Buttercup started, leaning back into the chair. "We're _not _friends. Just because we're working together doesn't mean we won't kick your asses if there's any funny business. One false move and you'll all be wishing Mojo didn't create you."

"In other words, we're working together but if you make one move to destroy us or create mayhem, the deal is off and we personally escort you to your life sentence in prison." Blossom said with a small devilish smile. "So we do what we have to do and as soon as the deal is off, everything goes back in place."

"Good." Brick said. "The last thing I want is to become permanent associates with you, Pinky."

Blossom nodded. "The Professor and I have been conducting experiments that we haven't been able to try that'll help Bubbles control the ECX and that'll help us defend ourselves against it. However, we need more research in terms of some more trials. That's where you come in. You will help train with her and perform the trials, as well as help us take him down by any means necessary."

"So… fighting?" Boomer asked.

"Honestly, we won't really need you at that point, but if it'll help your egos, by all means."

I smirked at this. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

"That kind of reviews what we have to do, but there are other factors to this deal. We promise to provide you with shelter, food, and all of those things for as long as the deal stands. Of course, we can't have you live here. You will be expected to meet here for certain things, but for the most part you'll need to stay somewhere else. Somewhere safe."

"Safe?" I scoffed. "We can handle ourselves."

"Not against him." Bubbles shook her head. "He's too strong and you barely know what he's capable of. Plus, we can't risk you three being captured or killed or anything."

"Then where else is safer than here?" Boomer asked.

Bubbles bit her lip and for the first time today, she giggled.

"With me, of course."

* * *

**A/N**: There it is! So the story is progressing and hopefully we'll get to more fluff soon agh! Don't forget to leave a review because I live and breathe for feedback. Follow to know when I update and/or favorite to keep it bookmarked. Thanks for reading and I hope you thought this chapter was fetch!

_Blossom_: Oh my God Erica, stop trying to make fetch happen, it's never going to happen!

Ok I'm so sorry if that was really cheesy and really bad I just had to put that in there I couldn't resist!

Anyways catch you later!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Oh. My. God. I'm a terrible person. I haven't updated this since April. _April_. Instead of listing all of the excuses I have and all the reasons why it's taken me so long to update my stories or even just go on this site, I will cut straight to the story. And apologize. I am genuinely, extremely, 2837423984% sorry. And I will post a super long chapter right now.

Please don't kill me. Or burn me at the stake. _Or kill me by burning me at the stake._

* * *

Being made from toxic toilet water and snails, you'd expect me know that the impossible is possible. It _is_ possible for things to exist like monster attacks, lobster demons, and cockroach armies.

But tell me, what's more mind boggling than that? Believing that my brothers and I, all super powered, would have to be protected against some cocky new villain by the, although clearly hyped up on Enchanted Chemical X, baby of the Powerpuff Girls.

I couldn't argue, because I had no proof to contradict that belief. After all, as Buttercup loves to point out, we didn't last at all against Brent.

So that's how my brothers and I ended up in Bubbles' apartment afterwards. That is, before Blossom lectured us on the rules as if she didn't already provide some clear guidelines already.

"You can't, I repeat, can _not_ leave the premises nor can you know the exact address. Until we trust you, of course." She continued, but I simply blocked her out as we walked through the house.

Pictures decorated the clean white walls along with paintings and various bookcases. The six of us walked to a door at the edge of a hallway. Blossom opened it, revealing a large garage containing a white station wagon and a black Honda.

I began to walk towards it, since the girls had stated we weren't flying to our destination. Bubbles grabbed my shoulder and I turned around. She shook her head.

"This way."

The others had already walked to the wall, where there was not much blocking the awkward space besides a cart full of tools. Blossom pushed it out of the way and pushed a section of the wall, revealing a keypad. She quickly entered a code and the wall opened.

I shared a brief look with Boomer and Brick before catching a suspicious look from Buttercup. I rolled my eyes and followed the others to the door. Bubbles had closed the entrance behind us and the lights turned on, revealing a staircase to a large space. The space held two motorcycles, two BMWs, a convertible, a Volvo, two Jeeps and a mini-van. There were a few other cars but I focused on the motorcycles and the large room. The space was decked out with control panels and carts of tools.

"Whoa this is wicked!" Boomer grinned.

"Thanks." Buttercup smirked.

"Holy crap where'd you get the money for all this?"

"We hardly spent any money on this." Blossom said.

"You could say that being good with creating things runs in the family." Buttercup said cooly. I raised my brow and Bubbles nodded quickly.

"This is like the Batcave!" Boomer exclaimed. The group continued to walk down the stairs, closer to the various vehicles.

Boomer immediately dashed to the convertible and when the girls didn't stop him, I walked towards the motorcycles. One was red and one was black, and I found myself admiring the two of them.

"Like it?" I heard Buttercup say behind me. I nodded without turning around. "I fixed the two up a few years back and this is my pride and joy." Buttercup ran her hand against the red motorcycle.

"What about this one? Up for adoption?" I looked at the metallic black bike, walking up to it before someone beat me to it.

"Bubbles get off that, you might hurt yourself." I said to the girl leaning against it.

Bubbles narrowed her eyes. "I think I know how to ride my own motorcycle, Butch."

"_Your_ motorcycle?" Brick came up to us, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Yeah. She rode mine all the time so I figured why not just give her the other one." Buttercup shrugged.

Bubbles smiled cheekily before Blossom interrupted us.

"Alright guys, we gotta go." She held black sunglasses and Brick looked at her quizzically. "These are so nobody recognizes our eyes. If you haven't noticed, red eyes are pretty strange."

She put on white rimmed sunglasses and tossed black sunglasses to Brick, Boomer and I.

"Put them on." Buttercup ordered. Our previous conversation was apparently forgotten as all signs of friendliness disappeared and her cold look returned.

I looked at them suspiciously before eventually putting them on. And then I couldn't see anything.

I couldn't see anything at all, even with supervision.

"What the hell?" I grunted as I struggled to take them off.

"Sorry guys, but we can't risk having you guys see anything." Bubbles sighed from behind me.

"We need to split up and rendezvous at Bubbles', understood?" Blossom said. After a pause, she started again. "Good. Now I'll take the Volvo with Brick, Buttercup and Butch take the Honda, and Bubbles and Boomer get the convertible."

"No way, sister!" Buttercup argued. "I'm _not_ dealing with Butch for a whole car ride."

I heard an aggravated sigh from Blossom. "Fine. Buttercup and Boomer in the Honda, Bubbles and Butch in the convertible. Now, let's go."

I felt a hand grab my wrist and tug. "Come on Butch, it's this way."

I scowled as there were a billion things wrong with this picture. I was blindfolded and being _helped _by Bubbles. I took pride in never needing anyone but myself and my brothers, and needing Bubbles to make my way to a car not more than a few strides away from where I was hurt my pride. This is the part where most people would roll their eyes at me and call me an egotistical dick. I'm the furthest from one. If anything, Brick and Boomer have most, if not all, of the egotistical, selfish, self-absorbed and jerk qualities. I heard a car engine start, and then a car door opening. I couldn't tell which one was coming from the convertible, but as Bubbles told me to sit down I guessed the latter.

The car door on the driver's side opened then closed. The familiar sound of keys and the engine starting followed by a seatbelt click hit my ears and soon, the car was moving.

I wasn't sure how the car ride was going to be. If I learned anything from the past day is that Bubbles wasn't the same girl I thought she was. But I also learned that surprises were something that often came out of Bubbles Utonium.

I wasn't all that surprised when Bubbles began to order me around.

"No, the one on the right." Bubbles commanded, and my hand went to the right, where it was met with another CD. "Yes, that one!"

"You know, if you were gonna watch me while you told me to get the CD, you could've just done it yourself. Especially when you said that you didn't want to take your eyes off the road."

"Shut up and put the CD in the player."

I chuckled and reached for the CD player, curious as to what music was going to blare. I was betting on something Top 40… Justin Bieber? One Direction? Or some other godforsaken manufactured heartthrob or boy band that appealed to the eyes so the demographic of teenage girls acted purely on hormones and not on hearing because _goddamn_, there was no other reason why girls were so infatuated with these things they called singers.

The CD loaded and drums blared through the car speakers before being joined by guitars. The interments were soon accompanied by a voice that was definitely not some pubescent 15-year-old boy.

_"Say my name and his in the same breath_

_I dare you to say they taste the same_

_Let the leaves fall off in the summer_

_And let December glow in flames"_

The tune was catchy and Bubbles had no problem singing along under her breath. I didn't pay much attention to her as I was to listening to the song. It wasn't bubblegum pop… it was _good._

_"Erase myself and let go_

_Start it over again in Mexico_

_These friends, they don't love you_

_They just love the hotel suites, now"_

Bubbles was tapping along on the steering wheel, and soon enough, my mind was going along with the beat of the lyrics.

_"I don't care what you think as long as it's about me _

_The best of us can find happiness in misery _

_Said,_

_I don't care what you think as long as it's about me _

_The best of us can find happiness in misery"_

"Like it?" Bubbles asked, and I turned towards her, forgetting that I couldn't see her- or anything for that matter.

"Yeah." I shrugged. "And here I thought you'd only be listening to bubblegum pop and all that jazz. Didn't know you'd have a good song selection."

Bubbles scoffed. "Of course I like bubblegum pop." Shocker. "But I like a bunch of different music. Plus, who doesn't like Fall Out Boy?"

"Fall Out what?"

"The band that plays this song, dummy." She giggled.

"You sure are strange…" I sighed.

"Strange how?" Bubbles asked, sounding amused.

"Well for one, you're so… badass."

"Why thank you." Bubbles laughed.

"I'm serious. I mean I thought you'd be all shits and giggles, but you're so kickass now. For one… a motorcycle? I would've thought the biggest bike you'd ride was a tricycle."

Bubbles laughed hard- harder than I'd expect someone who was just insulted would. "Well I wasn't a big fan of motorcycles and told Buttercup to quit it. _But_ I was convinced to try it out and, well… it was fun. So I helped her convince the Professor to let her keep it. The rest is history."

"Interesting…" I said blankly.

"Spit it out." Bubbles said after a few moments.

"What?"

"I know you wanna ask about… everything."

I raised an eyebrow and attempted to turn towards her. I couldn't see her, but it was better to pretend than to talk to a highway. "I wouldn't think that you'd be willing to talk to the enemy about your plans."

Bubbles snickered. "You're hardly an enemy now and it's not like I'm telling you about our weaknesses. So before we reach the apartment, or _safe house, _as the Professor calls it, where Blossom will insist on keeping you in the dark, _literally_, just ask whatever the hell you want to ask."

"Fine." I shrugged. "I wanted to ask… well, what the hell was that all about?"

"What do you mean?" Bubbles said slowly.

"Your abilities. I mean, I've seen some crazy shit in the past, but what you did today out there… that was something else."

"Like what? What did I do?" Bubbles asked, but I knew that she knew the answer to that.

"Your energy blasts… the shaking… the freaky changing of the eye color… and _mind control_, for lack of a better name. It's mind-boggling."

"First of all… mind-boggling? Who says that?" Bubbles laughed, and I rolled my eyes. "Second of all, has anyone told you that you're really observant?"

"It's…whatever. But seriously, is that all from the ECX?"

"Not all of it…" Bubbles said quietly. "We haven't… we haven't figured out what I can really do. It's too dangerous. When I first used my powers… bad things happened. Really bad things. I couldn't control it, which is why I always shake like a freaking chihuahua."

"You do?" I asked.

"For someone so observant, you sure did miss out on that very noticeable detail."

"I guess I just didn't notice…" I muttered.

"Well you _are_ twitching most of the time, so you probably don't notice when someone does it too."

I scowled. "Aren't we supposed to be talking about you?"

"Fine, fine." Bubbles sighed dramatically. She was silent for a few moments and for a minute there I thought she wasn't going to answer. "It was too powerful at first. The Professor had to use thirty doses of Antidote X _just_ to get my powers to _fade. _Not to make all of it go away for a few hours, but to _fade just a little bit_. That was enough to let my sisters contain me and it took about a week for me to cool off and learn how to control myself from nearly blowing myself up. It took a few weeks to learn how to use some of the moves without losing control. The Professor said it'd take a lot to have me go back to my old room, because he said he wanted me in an environment where I was protected from the city. But I knew what he really meant. So I convinced him to let me stay in one of his safe houses in the city. I haven't used any of my other powers, or even _tried_ to unlock any of the others. It's too dangerous. Even _in_ the safe house."

I hesitated before responding. "That would explain the apartment."

Bubbles sighed quietly, "Yeah."

"You know… you didn't have to tell me all of this. I get the need to keep secrets."

"I know." Bubbles said, and I had the strangest feeling that she was smiling. "Let's go."

I realized that the engine was off and the car was still. Bubbles took the keys out of the ignition and paused before clicking her seatbelt and exiting. As Bubbles led me around, I scoffed inwardly at her previous statement.

I really wasn't as observant as either of us thought.

But as we silently walked, I thought back to what Bubbles and Blossom had said. Bubbles said she was being protected. But it sure as hell wasn't from the city. It was from _herself_, as cheesy as it sounded. It was also to protect the city from _her_.

And as I processed this information so I could inform my brothers, I contemplated Blossom's words from earlier.

_"You'll need her protection. She's the only person who can stand a chance against Brent and you need her to survive._"

Was Blossom sure about that? It sounded more like they, or more specifically Bubbles, needed our help more than anything. And it looked like they were going to need us if they wanted to survive their battles with Brent. Bubbles needed us as punching bags or test subjects to help control _and _unlock her powers while her sisters needed us to help find any defense strategies against ECX powers.

Did we really need her protection? Maybe.

Did she need us more? Possibly.

I never had any protection that wasn't my own powers or my brothers' help before, and the idea of even supposedly _needing_ it was driving me crazy.

There was no way a Rowdyruff Boy needed protection from anyone, let alone a Powerpuff Girl.

* * *

**A/N**: Holy cheeseballs _that was the longest chapter I've posted on this site._ That's more than 2.2 thousand words so hopefully it _slightly_ made up for the extremely long gap between updates. Anyways, since I'm back from my vacation that was oN THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY (aka Washington state) and I have internet _and_ concert tickets to see one of my favorite bands, I'm excited to update the next chapter. I _was_ going to include more Butchubbles fluff but I thought it was kinda early in the story for that.

Oh, and a sidenote! I hope you don't find Butch's comments about manufactured heartthrobs/boy bands too offensive. I was trying to think of what a grumpy teenage boy who doesn't like that kind of music. In other words, I was trying to think like Butch. I, on the other hand deeply enjoy boybands and teenage heartthrobs.

Anyways, I hope you liked the update and leave some reviews down below if you liked/loved/hated it! Catch ya on the flipside.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Aye guys, I'm back for an update! So I've been suffering from a lil bit of writer's block, which is why this took so long. So summer is almost gone and I've had non stop orientation which is an awful reminder that school is in less than two weeks. _Disgusting._

Anyways, I was going to update everything this week but I had orientation yadda yadda yadda and for the next few days my school is taking me on a camping trip so I won't be able to update much less have internet connection.

_I'm gonna die_. So I decided that before I die I might as well update. Woohoo.

* * *

It took about seven flights of stairs and a thirty-second walk afterwards to reach the door of the apartment. As soon as I heard the lock click and the door open, I scoffed silently.

_If it was a safe house, why would it be so easy to get into the apartment?_

Bubbles led me inside and the door closed, the lock clicking in place.

"Took you guys long enough." Brick muttered from somewhere to my left.

"So now we wait for Buttercup and Boomer?" Bubbles asked.

"She's probably regretting her choice of putting herself in a car with that idiot." I mused to myself.

Soon a loud whack was heard outside and I perked up.

Muffled yelling was heard and soon the door swung open, and Buttercup was yelling at Boomer.

Oh this should be good.

"I'm not gonna calm down, you fucking dickhead!" Buttercup screeched.

"Buttercup!" Blossom snapped. "What the hell is going on?"

"He scratched my car!" Buttercup growled.

"I did _not!_" Boomer stomped and the floor shook. _Oh God_. He was going to have a Tantrum.

Boomer wasn't one to get angry, so when he did it was usually for being a baby. And when he got angry, he'd thrash around like he was having a tantrum, but it was like his own little power. It'd be funny if it wasn't so terrifying.

"Boomer calm down." Brick ordered, his voice steely.

"Take off my goddamn sunglasses!" Boomer screamed, ignoring him.

"Fine!" Blossom snapped. I felt everyone in the room flinch. It was the first time today that Blossom was this angry. "You can take them off now."

I eagerly grabbed the sunglasses and took them off. My eyes burned at the sudden light and I shut my eyes before rapidly blinking to let my eyes adjust.

"Thank God." Brick scoffed.

I looked over and found Brick and Bubbles by my left and Blossom, Buttercup, and Boomer by the door. The room we were all in was fairly large and decorated with a fireplace underneath a flat screen television, a black sectional, a white loveseat, a glass coffee table, and an open brick doorway that led to the connecting kitchen. It was a large space with various plants, bookcases, photographs and large windows that opened to the city.

"Nice place." I muttered to myself. And it was. It was better than most of the run down apartments in the city I'd lived in before.

"Thanks." Bubbles nodded. I was surprised she had heard me over the noise of our siblings.

_Our siblings_.

To think that the Powerpuff Girls took th8e Rowdyruff Boys to their own safe house, and were currently bickering like they did it all the time. It looked so odd, but it felt so normal.

I mean, we always fought, but this time… it wasn't deadly.

"Buttercup!" A shriek snapped me out of my thoughts and I tensed into a offensive position, looking at the source of the shriek.

It was Blossom, who was holding Buttercup by the waist as she attempted to lash out at Boomer.

"Blossom, calm her down!" Bubbles exclaimed as Brick held Boomer by the shoulders as his eyes glowed blue and his fists clenched into white balls of light.

"C'mon Buttercup!" Blossom panted, dragging her outside.

Soon, the two girls were out the door, leaving us alone.

Boomer calmed down slightly, his eyes returning to normal and his fists free of energy bolts. Bubbles looked him straight in the eye and her eyes changed, like they did at the restaurant.

"Calm down, okay? She's gone and she'll be fine. Don't worry."

Boomer nodded slowly and his face became blank, his body slack.

Bubbles sighed in relief and smiled brightly.

"So who wants a tour?"

* * *

**A/N**: So have any of you started school already? Sorry for the short, slightly random chapter but I'll try to update when I get back. Review, follow, and favorite if you liked or disliked it. See ya on the flipside.


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